Khau Vai love Market
From central highlands district of Meo Vac (Ha Giang), turn your face up and the road to Khau Vai looks like a rope over the mountain sides. This hill town is 155 km of bumpy mountain road from Ha Giang, bending like a silver snake along immense black ranges of car-ear rocks.
24 km from Meo Vac, vehicles are seen in distance skirting along steep cliffs, over the foggy peak of Lung Pu, down to the slippery dirt road of Khau Vai. The market is perched on top of a bow-shaped hill, deep into a foggy valley of simple wooden houses side by side
Khau Vai love market is opened only once a year, from late evening of lunar March 26 until late morning of the next day. Although called a market, there is no trading activity, it is a place where lovers of all ages come to see their old partners who could not wed together
The market opens at night, husbands and wives come to market together however they look for their own partners, women from Giay ethnic minority, men from Hmong community can walk for 3, 4 days to the market, waiting silently for their partners....
Bac ha market
Bac Ha market is well-known for its naturally sub-tropical scenery. Tam Hoa plums are really a local specialty: sweet and fresh. This seems to be created by its own land, people and nature.
Average temperature here is 19°C and it's not so cold as in Sa Pa. Bac Ha is specifically identified by each mount, each house and naturally-made carpet of white plum-flowers in spring. There are 14 ethnic minorities and the Mong ethnics count for 47% then the Dao, Tay, Nung, Phu La... Mountaineers take care of their horses as their properties, means of transport and close friends
Besides plums, Bac Ha is reputed for its alcohol (made of maize). Maize is grown on high mountains, its low in productivity but high in nutrition. To make alcohol, it's fermented with Hong My seed (the local only plant). Bac Ha alcohol is well-known due to its source of water. So it's surely believed never to have faulted one in Bac Ha market. Visitors can see the locals selling their own alcohol without feelings to be cheated.
Brocades are for sales in the market or in shops or by street-vendors. There are hand-made or manufactured products. It takes a village-girl even half a month to make a brocade of 20cm long. Their skirts or costumes cost them long time to make. Their dresses express their patience, skills. Visitors can see the girls making brocades right in the market.
Visitors to Bac Ha are opportune to understand the local traditions and customs, taste local specialties, meet nice people and know a land code-named: white plateau.
Dong Ba Market in Hue
One of the must see sites in Hue is Dong Ba Market. Roaming around this food market would add new color to your visit to this Vietnamese city. Dong Ba Market in Old Hue is near the position where the Dong Ba Canal merges with the Perfume River. If you want to know certain things regarding Vietnamese food or culture, you must come to this place. What consists in the attraction towards this market is the preservation of ancient distinctiveness. Dong Ba Market is near the eastern corner of the Citadel.
Tourists make visit to Dong Ba Market not only because they can buy many goods and local specialties, but because in their hearts it is a symbol of Hue's civilization.
Dong Ba Market provided the platform for the conventional crafts in the city of Hue. Today, the market still sells many traditional products of the region: Phu Cam conical hats, Hien Luong scissors, bronze articles of the Duc guild, Phuoc Tich pottery, Bao La rattan and bamboo products, Ke Mon jewelry, Nam Thuan sweets, Tuan tea, Huong Can mandarins Luong Quan-Nguyet Bieu pommels and, Tinh Tarn lotus… And everyday Hue dishes such as clam rice, beef noodles, shrimp cakes, pancakes, bean puddings, sour shrimps, and My Lai shredded
Cai Rang Floating market
Together with Cai Be and Phung Hiep, Cai Rang Floating Market in Can Tho City is one of the three biggest in the Mekong Delta. The shops and stalls at the market are boats of different sizes.
During the early morning market hours, larger sized boats anchor and create lanes that smaller boats weave in and out of. The waterway becomes a maze of hundreds of boats packed with mango, bananas, papaya, pineapple, and even smuggled goods like cigarettes. Sellers do not have to cry out about their goods because their goods can be seen in a distance and their cries would not be heard in the vastness of the river and the noise of boat engines. Small boats that sell beer, wine and soft drinks go among the other boats to serve market-goers and visitors. Sellers tie their goods to a
Each boat is loaded with plenty of seasonal goods. Activities at the market are also an occasion for tourists to study the cultural aspects of southerners. You can see the market in the distance, it does not look like much, just a mass of boats. The boats all display their wares on a mast so you can see what they have available.
Fish Muine market
The pace of life at the Mu Ne fish market is like the ocean wave sometimes it is busy and animated, and other times it is quiet and peaceful. Regardless, the atmosphere of this famous old fishing village is always exciting.
Although the village was supposed have been moved to make way for tourism projects, it has still remained the traditional fishing village it’s always been-providing income for local people, preserving their culture, and boosting the area’s economy. The combination if high-end resorts and the hustle and bustle of a fishing port seem an old combination. However, the combination is the secret to the town’s success, attracting both foreign and Vietnamese tourists who come to stay in the nice resorts white wandering around the seaport learning about local culture and customs.
For tourist, the market’s exciting atmosphere stars at dawn when the vessels reach the coast after fishing when the fishermen start bringing in the fresh seafood to the market. As the seafood is distributed, the flurry of activity begins with the endless sea of conical hats that line the port. People carrying baskets, pulling ox-carts, and riding delivery bicycles all eagerly arrive waiting for first catch of the day.
Like other villages, the Mui Ne fishing market is typically most crowded in the early morning as hundreds of people unload the seafood to distribute to neighboring regions. Though the sub has not yet risen, the port is busy and noisy as traders exchange products for cash and trolleys weave their way through the market. The activity continues from dawn to dusk.
For many locals the fishing port way of life is like the ocean. The market opens with a buzz of activity, like the ocean waves during a storm. However, after the market closes, the port turns back to its tranquil self, where you can see women looking after their children while weaving nets, eyes occasionally looking up at the distant bobbing fishing baskets out at sea, thinking about tomorrows catch. Neither romantic nor clean, but definitely a draw card for the countless visitors who come to watch the daily life people working at Mui Ne fishing villages.
